The descendant of several generations of Independent
ministers, he was born at Kelvedon, Essex, and became a
Baptist in 1850. In the same year he preached his first
sermon, and in 1852 he was appointed paster of the Baptist
congregation at Waterbeach. In 1854 he went to Southwark,
where his sermons drew such crowds that a new church, the
Metropolitan Tabernacle in Newington Causeway, had to be
built for him. Apart from his preaching activites he founded
a pastors' college, an orphanage, and a colportage
association for the propagation of uplifting literature.
Spurgeon was a strong Calvinist. He had a controversy in
1864 with the Evangelical party of the Church of England for
remaining in a Church that taught Baptismal Regeneration,
and also estranged considerable sections of his own
community by rigid opposition to the more liberal methods of
Biblical exegesis. These differences led to a rupture with
the Baptist Union in 1887. He owed his fame as a preacher to
his great oratorical gifts, humour, and shrewd common sense,
which showed itself especially in his treatment of
contemporary problems. Among his works are The Saint and his
Saviour (1857), Commenting and Commentaries (1876) and
numerous volumes of sermons (translated into many
languages).

Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon (June 19, 1834 January 31,
1892) was a British Reformed Baptist preacher who remains
highly influential among Christians of different
denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince
of Preachers." In his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to around
10,000,000 people, often up to 10 times a week at different
places. His sermons have been translated into many
languages. Spurgeon was the pastor of the New Park Street
Chapel in London for 38 years. In 1857, he started a charity
organization called Spurgeon's which now works globally. He
also founded Spurgeon's College, which was named after him
after his death.

Spurgeon was a prolific author of many types of works
including sermons, an autobiography, a commentary, books on
prayer, a devotional, a magazine, and more. Many sermons
were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many
languages during his lifetime. Arguably, no other author,
Christian or otherwise, has more material in print than C.H.
Spurgeon.